


Off the Beaten Path

by DinoRoar



Series: Parchments of Prompt Responses [11]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Science Fiction, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Alternate Universe - Space, Dirty Thoughts, Eventual Romance, Explicit Language, Fluff, Gay James Potter, Gay Regulus Black, Humor, Inner Dialogue, James is an impatient little shit, Love, M/M, Outer Space, POV James Potter, POV Regulus Black, Pet Names, Regulus is so done with his shit, Romance, Romantic Soulmates, Science Fiction, Science Fiction & Fantasy, Soul Bond, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, Soulmates, Space Battles, Space Shuttle Crashes, taking fate into your own hands
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-03
Updated: 2020-10-03
Packaged: 2021-03-08 02:41:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,311
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26798260
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DinoRoar/pseuds/DinoRoar
Summary: James was adamant that he was going to find his soulmate, and he didn’t plan to wait around for fate to decide when. Taking matters into his own hands leads to destruction and a bit of property damage. Regulus is just angry that his space shuttle was the innocent victim of said destruction, and there will be hell to pay if his paint job is ruined.Space!AU, Soulmate!AU
Relationships: Regulus Black/James Potter
Series: Parchments of Prompt Responses [11]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1719328
Comments: 4
Kudos: 35





	Off the Beaten Path

Regulus couldn't believe what had just happened to him. He couldn't believe what he was seeing, surely it couldn't be real? Surely the absolute doorknob in the other shuttle hadn't just purposely hit him? It was his maiden trip in the newest shuttle he had worked his ass off for, sure he could have afforded it months ago, but what was the point in getting a space shuttle if you weren't going to get the personalisation package?

It had cost him an arm and a leg in points but had been totally worth it. Customised emerald green leather seats, with the pricy option of silver silk piping (he truly couldn't resist) contrasting copper interior had been another added feature which he had willingly shelled out the points for, it had absolutely been worth the overtime he'd had to take on to pay for it. The true shining glory however, had been the masterpiece of a paint job he'd commissioned. He had never seen another space shuttle with that design, it was truly unique, and now he dreaded laying eyes on it. It was guaranteed to be scuffed and ruined, he supposed that he should be happy it wasn't him that had been hurt, but his shuttle was his baby.

"I can't believe this; this is not happening. I swear this cannot be happening to me," he began to mumble under his breath, tapping away at the hologram in front of him. Within seconds the shuttle had completed a full diagnostic and Regulus couldn't bare to look at it, it hadn't been as bad as he feared, but it still wasn't good news. The majority of the damage was cosmetic. He would absolutely have to have the paint touched up, something that he was dreading, and there were some dents that would need working out, but otherwise the shuttle was relatively unscathed. That didn't mean he wouldn't be giving the other voyager a piece of his mind, however.

Opening the safety hatch, Regulus began to clamber out of the hatch. Double checking his helmet, he made sure it was firmly in place upon his head. There had been issues with off-course asteroids in this area, and Regulus wasn't looking to get a concussion on top of everything else. Frustrated, he began to make his way towards the other shuttle, the driver of which seemed to be unwilling to open their hatch and face the music, understandable he supposed, considering what they had just done.

He rapped upon their hatch sharply, there was a slight aggressiveness to his actions, but he was pissed off. They had come out of nowhere, down some back route that the International Space Patrol had surely blocked off some time ago, if not then they needed to. The unknown shuttle had rocketed directly into Regulus' path with reckless abandon, and then stopped. It was clear that they had intended to cause a crash, and Regulus just knew that his insurance was going to skyrocket if he made a claim, but there was no way he was willing to let such an incident go.

With a frazzled pop and a hiss, the hatch began to open, Regulus stepped away slightly, prepared for the fact that he didn't know who was inside such a vessel. Surely only madmen would intentionally cause a crash? Maybe he should have just made an insurance claim, he hadn't fully thought through what would happen if the other voyager decided to resort to physical actions. Still, he stood straight and faced the opening hatch, unknowing who he would be facing, but knowing that they would be paying for his poor paint job by the end of this.

_\- break -_

James had timed this one perfectly! There had been contact, they had crashed, but the damage would only be surface deep he was sure, unlike the last time. He shivered slightly; James didn't like to think about the damage he had caused last time. He'd been doing this for some time now, and that was definitely the worst crash he had been in for sure. This one had worked out well though, even if he did feel slightly bad for messing up that gorgeous paint job, the voyager had clearly put a lot of effort into their shuttle. Oh well, if it all worked out the way he hoped then the paint job would be the last thing on their mind.

James knew that if it didn't work out however, he was definitely going to have to dip into his main trust fund to repair that paintwork. The thought was a little off-putting, but there was no way that James could feel guilty for his actions. This was surely the only chance he had at finding his soulmate, according to the words etched into his hip, he was destined to meet his soulmate at the scene of a shuttle crash. James took that to mean he would be causing the crash; he had barely scraped his shuttle license after all. That had led to his current actions, staking out one of the unused galactic motorways for passing shuttles to crash into.

He tried to ensure he caused as little damage as possible, sometimes further damage was unavoidable, but how was he to know that the last shuttle was on its way to the garage with disintegrated break wires. Either way his parents had taken him to town for that incident, begging him to just let nature run its course and allow fate to happen on its own. There's no forcing fate they said, well clearly none of them were as determined as James was to meet his soulmate.

"This could actually be it; this could be the one. Oh damn, how's my hair looking? I can't meet my forever and only with shit hair!" James quickly began to dig around under the seats for his emergency mirror, there was no way he could meet his soulmate looking bedraggled and as if he'd been in a shuttle crash (even if he had caused one). Flailing hands clasped the compact from under his chair and pulled himself upright again, blowing a wayward strand of hair out of his eyes.

"There you are you sneaky bastard, my oh my James, you are a handsome devil if I do say so myself!" James began to run his fingers through his hair in an attempt to tame it as he spoke to himself in the mirror, it was a habit he had developed in school that he hadn't been able to break after graduating. Continuing to pluck and preen, James prepped himself for what could be the inevitable meeting of two gorgeous souls who were ready to take over the universe.

A loud knock upon his exit hatch brought him out of his daydreams, clearly whoever it was he'd crashed into was eager to have a chat about the miniscule damage James had caused. James readied himself to be the most charming version of himself that he could, flirty and fun there was no way they would turn him down if it was his soulmate outside of his shuttle. Clicking away at the hologram, James pressed the valve release for the hatch before sauntering towards the exit. He supposed he should put a safety helmet on, but that would definitely ruin the roguishly handsome look he was going for, but then being hit with an asteroid didn't exactly appeal to him. Sighing he reached out and swiped the battered helmet, carelessly placing it on his head, buckle undone and slightly lopsided as he made his way outside.

_\- break -_

Regulus wasn't sure what he was expecting exactly, but the prat that seemed to be walking, no make that sauntering, towards him was pretty close actually. He seemed overconfident, almost obnoxiously so. Clearly Regulus wouldn't be expecting any apologies from him for the damage that he had caused to his shuttle, he didn't look as if he had a care in the universe. His safety helmet was barely on his head, a mess of curls clearly visible beneath, and the way he popped his hip while leaning against his shuttle spoke of a strong ego. Regulus would be happy to take it down a notch or two if that smug smirk didn't leave his face within the next few seconds.

"So, is there any reason why you decided to be a prick and crash into my shuttle." It was blunt, to the point and definitely showed how angry he was about the whole situation, and yet Regulus was baffled to see the man before him light up with joy and begin cheering. It was as if all of his hopes and dreams had come out once, but Regulus' hadn't. Taking a look, Regulus realised that it had been the strangers shuttle that had taken the brunt of the damage, the back was slightly crumpled, and he was pretty sure that was the exhaust floating off into the atmosphere behind them. At least Regulus knew that he wasn't the only one who would be taking a trip to the repair shop, and this shuttle looked to be equally as expensive as his own. Still, that didn't take away from Regulus' anger, and watching as the man jumped for joy didn't diminish it either.

"Mate are you going to do anything other than smile and cheer? I want to know what possessed you to do something so idiotic like crashing into my shuttle, and it looked like it was on purpose too," his words seemed to bring the man back to the situation, even if he was still smirking like the cat that got the cream.

"Who doesn't love a bit of drama darling, I live for it really," suddenly everything made sense. The man intentionally crashing into his shuttle (Regulus dreaded to think how many times he'd done that before), the cheering and smiles, it all began to make sense. This man before him, the voyager who it would seem _had_ purposefully crashed into him, was his soulmate. His other half. His bonded. He was still pissed though, that was an expensive shuttle his soulmate had crashed into with little thought of eithers safety.

"Was this really your plan? You seriously planned to intentionally crash into a random voyagers shuttle on the off chance that they could be your soulmate?" The questions were posed with such restraint, but the anger and annoyance were still clear in the way he stood, fists clenched as he crossed his arms, mouth set in a deep frown as he glared.

"Darling, you should see how many shuttles I crashed into before I found you. It was the only plan I had with words like yours, what else was I meant to do?" Regulus could only stare at the man in shock, was he really that incapable at producing a safer method to finding his soulmate? Surely this could not have been the only option available to him.

_\- break -_

James had hit the jackpot and he couldn't be happier. He had finally done it; he had finally managed to find his soulmate! Sure, he seemed a bit pissed at the whole crashing into him thing, but James was sure he'd get over it. He was gorgeous with that whole aristocratic, I'm better than you get out of my way, look to him. James just wanted to run his fingers through the thick curls of his deep black hair, to explore the plains of each other's bodies (maybe that was going a bit far, they had only just met each other) he was completely enraptured by the man who stood before him. He couldn't wait for them to embark upon their future together, and he was sure his soulmate was equally as excited.

"What kind of planet do you come from that you think that's okay?" Well apparently, he wasn't quite as excited as James was, but that wouldn't be an issue for too long, James was wonderful at making people like him. His soulmate did seem a bit worried about his shuttle though, so James thought it would probably be best if he appeased his anxiety and check it over for him, not that he was an engineer, or a mechanic.

"Alpha Hubian of course, where did you think I was from darling? I don't have the gorgeous complexion of those from Farryn, what I wouldn't give to have that purple skin! Anyway, I'm sure I didn't cause too much damage to your shuttle, all that practice you know," James sauntered passed his soulmate, heading towards the abandoned shuttle (not without a cursory glance at the man before him, James was not disappointed with what he saw). It really was only surface damage. Sure, the gorgeous white decal (beautifully designed to depict a snake spanning the entire shuttle) which contrasted with the bronze exterior, had a few scratches and scuffs, it had lost the odd scale James noticed, but it would be a quick fix, and probably not that expensive either. He didn't really understand why the gorgeous specimen in front of him was kicking up such a fuss, they could have been spending their time getting to know each other instead, but no the shuttle came first apparently.

"I meant it sarcastically for crying out loud, what are you doing now? Don't touch my shuttle, you've done enough damage already," the cry came from behind him as he began to trace his finger over the artwork, it really was rather exquisite, James would have to find out where he got it done, his shuttle would definitely due a refurbishment now that he had no need for instigating accidents anymore.

"My, my, you're rather touchy about your shuttle, aren't you? I was just inspecting for damages, don't get all twisted up now. It's alright though, I'm joyful enough for both of us, the broody look really works for you," James couldn't help but to tease, his words seeping with flirtation as he trailed a finger along the shuttle with a teasing smirk. It was clear to him that his words were having some kind of affect on the man before him, he was just hoping they were a positive effect. It wouldn't do to have his soulmate angry at him (well, angrier) before they even had the chance to full get to know one another.

"I think arrogant is the word you were looking for there, and of course I'm touchy, you crashed into my brand new shuttle, I paid a lot of money for the customisation of that thing and you ruined it." James watched as he began to tug at his hair from frustration, the curls pinging back into the place as he released them, stepping away as began to take deep breathes. James wondered if his soulmate practiced yoga, he might find the meditation aspect rather useful in controlling his emotions.

"I'm sorry," he really was, even if the tone of his voice was more confused than apologetic. He couldn't quite understand why there was such tension (and not the sexual kind, James wouldn't have minded that) and such anger that seemed to echo from his soulmates very being. It seemed to be the right thing to do though, and James really wanted to hurry this whole thing along (then they could get to the good bit, snogging each other senseless).

"I don't care. I just want to understand why you thought this was the only way forward, surely there were safer ways of us meeting," his words pleaded with James to understand where he was coming from. To understand the possible danger he had placed them both in. But James had always been aware of that danger, ever since the words had appeared on his skin, he had been aware. "Or you know, you could have let fate run its course and have us meet naturally." The words were muttered under his breath, and he clearly had no intention of James hearing them, but he had, and he knew that he probably did need to provide some form of explanation for his actions. He remembered his mother telling him that he was too impulsive sometimes, that was becoming clearer with every second, but he could never regret the actions he had taken.

"If you choose to stick around, you'll find that I'm a pretty impatient guy darling. I couldn't run the risk of us meeting in some tragic way, especially knowing there was a crash involved. I thought it was pretty strategic, making sure that neither of us got hurt, but instigating the crash that would trigger the words," he was slightly affronted at the way his actions were being questioned, but then he supposed that purposefully crashing into someone with a space shuttle did warrant some questions regarding his sanity. Still, he was very much so looking forward to moving past all of this drama and getting to the living happily ever after, James loved a good happy ending after all. This whole incident was just a steppingstone to that.

_\- break -_

Regulus couldn't believe that he was sympathising with the man that had wrecked his most prized possession, but then again, he could tell that his intentions had been good. he took the time to fully inspect the man leaning against his shuttle before speaking. He was clearly arrogant, or maybe just very sure of himself, definitely dramatic though. Regulus knew that his life was going to become a lot more interesting now, there was no going back to his quiet and peaceful life of being a bachelor. Regulus couldn't help but to be slightly intrigued with what the future could hold for them both as a couple, he supposed that he'd need to make nice to find out.

"Well that's wonderful and all, but still pretty dangerous, and risky. I suppose I understand where you were coming from though, if I had the words you did then I'd have probably been as worried as you were, doesn't mean I'm happy about it though," he scuffed his shoe against the ground slightly before sighing, realising that this whole time they had been arguing, neither knew the others name. Surely that was the obvious first step, to know the name of the person you were destined to be with for the rest of your life, it was clearly a step that they had missed. "I'm Regulus by the way, Regulus Black."

"Reggie, goodness that sounds delicious, I'm James sweetheart, James Potter," he sauntered closer to Regulus, closing in on his personal space, he clearly didn't care about that though, "now darling, I can't wait to run my fingers through your hair and really make a mess of it, but this look is not suiting you sweetheart. Here's a hairbrush, I'll go and call for a tow-shuttle." With that James handed Regulus a shiny gold hairbrush (personalised with a glittery J on the back) and made his way over to his own shuttle, clearly deciding that everything had been resolved with his act of kindness. Regulus looked down at the hairbrush, shocked and confused, but also realising that he was in for the ride of his life because his soulmate was definitely on the dramatic side of life.

"What the hell am I getting myself into with this one?" The words were muttered under his breath as he turned back to facing James, such a normal name for someone completely chaotic, receiving a wiggle of the fingers in acknowledgement. Without realising it, Regulus began to rake the brush through his wild mane of hair, staring at the man he was fated to live a (hopefully) happy life alongside. He supposed that it could be worse, and there was definitely room for Regulus to learn to love him, "life is definitely going to be interesting that's for sure."

**Author's Note:**

> My first proper attempt at writing sci-fi and a Space!AU...I  
> f you enjoyed this, please leave me a comment, I'd love to know what people think of it...


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